My name is Annette J. Morris, M.A. and I’m a failure. I’ve failed once, twice, maybe 3,000 times. I’ve failed classes in College, as a boss, daughter, friend, wife and if parenting came with a grade I’d probably have a high F…need I go on? I’m certain you get it! I’ve failed, I’ve failed often but I’ve failed FORWARD!.

Far too often we view failure as detrimental when in fact it’s instrumental to our growth and success in life. Failure paves the way for future successes because it teaches us lessons that can be taught no other way. The Bible teaches us in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for our good. It doesn’t say all “good things” neither does it indicate all of our wins will work for our good. This scripture is an indication that all our good combined with all our failures will turn around and do us a favor. There’s no greater indication of this than the life of Michael Jordan. We know him as Air Jordan, one of the undisputed greatest basketball players of all time. Six championship rings, 10 time NBA scoring champ, multiple game winning shots, scored 38 points in a game he played with the flu and the list of accolades goes on and on. What we don’t know is that Michael attributes his success to his failures. He’s quoted as saying “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

How many of us can relate with his experience? We all certainly have a story of how we’ve failed doing something. I’m presently in the process of releasing my fourth book which is a project I’m co-authoring with 12 other phenomenal female authors. The book is entitled Favor in Failure: How failure is the key to success. Each author has a story of how failure has in turn lead them to and attributed to their present day success. One author shares how a failing credit score, combined with the need to generate more revenue to increase her score to secure housing for she and her kids lead her to her passion of writing. Today, she’s a Grammy nominated song-writer, published author and entrepreneur. Another author shares how failing classes in College forced her to self-assess and admit she was pursuing a career that didn’t align with her passion. The failure lead her to her true passion in which now she has a Masters’ Degree is an entrepreneur, a motivational speaker and published author all aligned with her passion and purpose.

We MUST change how we view failure. Failure is not a dead end but a detour to reroute us to success. It’s only the end if we quit and we all know, in the pursuit of greatness, QUITTING’S NOT AN OPTION. So, what’s your failure story? Whatever it is, make it count.

Failure!! Get comfortable with it. Embrace it!! FAIL, FAIL OFTEN but above all FAIL FORWARD!!

Annette J. Morris, M.A. is a Professional Mental Health Counselor, Certified Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, Published Author, Entrepreneur and Business Consultant. Her favorite quote which is the philosophy she lives by is "you will get all you want in life if you help enough people get what they want" by the late Zig Ziglar. Her professional career is focused solely on helping others to either accomplish their goals as an entrepreneur or in life as a whole. Although Annette has accomplished a lot in life, she had very humble beginnings. She was reared for 23 years in a local housing project by a single mother and had to overcome many obstacles on this journey called life. However all that she's endured in her past has helped to form the Annette of the present. Annette is a first generation college graduate and has earned a Bachelors of Art Degree in Psychology from Southern University of New Orleans and a Master's of Art Degree from Xavier University of Louisiana. She's the Owner/Lead Consultant of Goal Getter, LLC. Annette has also published three books Conquering the EneME, Live Free:Creating the Streams to Live Your Dreams and Everyday's a New Day: Daily Positive Affirmations for Positive Daily Living. She also co-authored a project entitled I Want to Quit My Job: 8 Entrepreneurial Tips for Massive Results While Employed and Favor in Failure: How failure is the key to success (scheduled to release May 19,2018). Of all that she's accomplished in life, she's most excited about being saved and a child of the most high God

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